- Championship leader will start race from 10th on grid
- Oscar Piastri qualfies second with George Russell third
Already struggling for confidence in his car the world championship leader, Lando Norris, suffered another serious blow to his title ambitions, crashing out in qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. His Red Bull rival Max Verstappen claimed pole position, one-hundredth of a second clear of Norris’s teammate, Oscar Piastri.
McLaren and, indeed, Norris had looked strong all weekend, but on the first of the final runs in Q3 at the Jeddah circuit he took too much kerb through turns 4-5 and 6 and it spat him out into the wall, taking a nasty hit on the front. He was unhurt but declared himself an “idiot” when speaking to his team. The session was red-flagged and Norris will start from 10th on Sunday, his title lead hanging by the slenderest of threads and his self-belief perhaps once more undermined.
